It often comes down to chemistry.
A key to building a winning soccer team isn’t that much of a secret – just ask the Vancouver Whitecaps management. Victories and losses often come down to chemistry – either of the good, or bad kind.
Chemistry is going to play a big part in whether 2016 is a great or mere good year for the Douglas College Royals men’s soccer team.
Royals co-coaches Paul Bahia and Robby Toor are use to setting their sights high ever since they took over the program four years ago. They’ve piloted the squad to a pair of nationals in that time.
Last year’s disappointing third-place finish at the provincials provides some extra motivation, said Bahia.
“I think it’s something to learn from, especially for our returning young players,” said Bahia. “We’ve done fairly well over the last four years but the main goal is to get back to nationals. We missed that boat (last year) and that’s kind of where we set the bar.”
And while the club is looking at a lot of new faces in the lineup, the roster won’t be totally inexperienced when it comes to the Pacific Western Athletic Association.
That’s because the Royals have absorbed a handful of players from the Kwantlen University squad which also happened to be the team which relegated them to third place at last year’s provincials.
With Kwantlen disbanding its sports programs, Douglas got to the front of the line and scooped up both players and the program’s coach.
“We use to have issues with Kwantlen when we played, just based on style of play,” noted Bahia. “We were considered a ‘pretty boy’ team, all about possession, while (Kwantlen) was a run-and-gun, a gritty group. I think this is an opportunity for us to benefit by adding players who give us a new look.”
The Kwantlen pickups centre around defenders Tony McCullough, Matthew Pierre and forward Mateo Serka, the latter player even scored the goal that bounced Douglas from the B.C. final.
Among Royal returnees, Nicholas Pineda Graham, Mark Baldisimo and Isaac Kyei, a fifth-year forward, will be counted on for leadership and continuity.
Even with the turnover and incoming faces, Toor said the squad has quickly shown good chemistry.
“On our pre-season trip Paul and I noticed how this was the quickest we’ve seen a team come together... We think this group has a very goo chance of going to nationals and competing for a gold.”
The PacWest season starts officially Sept. 7, when Douglas hosts Langara in Coquitlam.
